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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The Vintage Bug Bit Hard!

I am still feeling less than perky with this cold and didn’t accomplish much of anything today. I had hoped to list some items on Etsy but I fizzled out. Maybe tomorrow? There is always usually tomorrow.

During times of relative inactivity I often find my mind wandering back in time, recalling fond memories and events that shaped my interests. Maybe since I was in Etsy mode today, thinking about what to list, it evoked the following fond memories. (I am not really sure how my mind gets to where it goes…scary!)

I was born on a small farm in Indiana. My parents grew tomatoes for Stokely Van Camp and had a small oil distributorship with a fleet of mmm...one truck!

While my mom was a Hoosier, Dad was a Yankee and his family lived in Vermont. One day when I was two years old, my parents, three siblings and I packed up our Volkswagen van and made the long trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Northern Vermont.

While visiting, my mother picked up a newspaper and glanced over the real estate section. Something about driving past bucolic settings with red barns, babbling brooks and quaint villages captured her heart. A rambling red inn for sale in a small village caught her attention and she told Dad that she would like to “just go look at it”. Thinking that it would be a curious adventure, we piled into the van and made the two hour trek to Southern Vermont to take a peek.

We took a tour of the inn, made an offer- which was accepted and the rest was history! We drove back to Indiana and put the farm and the truck up for sale. Dad stayed behind for almost a year, wrapping up business, while Mom and four children moved to Vermont to become instant innkeepers! Such a brave mother!

Although the inn was mostly furnished with antiques, Mom and Dad loved to go to auctions looking to fill in the gaps. I trace my love for antiques and vintage items back to this time in my life as I LOVED going to the auctions with them!

I was captivated by the atmosphere of excitement stirred up by the fast talking auctioneer and fascinated by his unique talent to create a frenzied bidding war over something as humble as an old chair or lamp!

I remember the first time that Mom said that I could bid on an item. A large brown leather book bag with leather straps and buckles had caught my attention so I shyly held my hand up and won the bid! I was so excited to take ownership of that book bag. How I wish I still had it. I believe this experience was around the time the vintage bug bit me! I have felt the effects of that bite throughout my life.

If given the choice, I would rather spend a day at a flea market or auction than at a mall!

About Me

I love my role as wife, mother and grandmother most of all. I love vintage items and the charm they bring to a home. Familiarity is comforting and so many vintage items I come across in my travels remind me of my childhood. Good memories associated with these familiar objects are why I gravitate to them. If given the choice, I would rather spend a morning at a flea market than at the mall!